Argentina built a national identity of an indisputable force that beats to the rhythm of tango. Among the pillars that wrote its history, Astor Piazzolla, who imposed himself with a brutal energy, breaking all sorts of barriers. Celebrated Argentine composer, pianist Gustavo Beytelmann is one of the most significant contributors to the evolution of the tango. Beytelmann frequented all legends of Argentine music. He lived in Buenos Aires, the vibrant city of yesteryear when everything seemed possible. In this album, he is accompanied by Juan Sebastian Delgado and Krystina Marcoux on cello, marimba and vibraphone. In Gustavos’s exquisite writing, instruments rarely associated with tango come together as one, giving character, finesse and meaning to each note. Eso es nuevo, tango nuevo.

Virtuoso jazz bassist, Carl Mayotte is a musician, arranger, composer and producer. His first album Fantosme, co-produced with Michel Cusson, allowed him to be named the Jazz Revelation by Radio-Canada in 2020 and to be nominated at the Gala de l'ADISQ 2020 in the in the category Jazz Album of the year. Now teaming up with Analekta, this prolific musician is releasing his third album, in which he explores jazz fusion and world music. He writes: “I am happy and honored to finally present my new album Escale. As its title says, this album is a musical journey that differs from my usual musical universe and it was composed in a different way too. Improvisation and instinct taking the place of reflection and hours of doubts that usually inhabit my composition techniques.”

As a virtuoso and composer, Vivaldi travelled widely, and it is likely that he encountered nomadic musicians during these excursions. One can also easily imagine how travellers arriving from Eastern European countries would perform their music along the Slavic Canal where Vivaldi taught for many years at an orphanage school. Telemann comments in one of his autobiographies that a skilled composer could gain enough musical inspiration to last a lifetime by listening to gypsy musicians. The obvious closeness to gypsy music of the motifs used in the opening tutti in the third movement of the late concerto RV 375 makes a link even more tempting to surmise. The ragged initial sixteenth notes, the syncopated rhythms, the abrupt dynamic contrasts and the pianissimo passages that appear are almost identical in the Uhrovska collection (1730) of gypsy music.

The Uhrovska collection (named for the town in Slovakia where it was found) is a fascinating document that provides a direct glimpse into the world of gypsy music. The approximately 350 melodies it contains were probably intended to be as comprehensive a collection of gypsy music as possible. Its multi-national character documents the extent to which the gypsies—and their music with them—travelled. Hungarian melodies stand next to Czech songs and the location of Uhrovska's discovery in Slovakia suggests further national influences.

It became obvious to us during this project that the undercurrent of kinship between these two different music styles is too insistent and that the rough and fresh gypsy music must have exerted a great fascination on a composer like Vivaldi. Although cause for speculation remains, we hope that the listener will be inclined to share our enthusiasm for this unusual musical encounter.

-- Matthias Maute

Tracks include 17 anonymous pieces from the Uhrovska collection of gypsy music as well as Vivaldi concertos RV 375, RV 533, RV 104, and P 81.

"Even the most pious music lovers here in America will find these performances hard to resist. Dubeau and company play each composition with an infectious, devil-may-care enthusiasm." - Forbes

"Dubeau is an exciting, dynamic fiddler. The performances were consistently robust and inquiring, taking nothing for granted. Dubeau’s well-drilled band played with agility, power, a nicely weighted sound and a fierce joy in the doing." - Los Angeles Times

Angèle Dubeau plays on the "Des Rosiers" Stradivarius violin constructed in 1733.

Valerie Milot, Stephane Tetrault and Antoine Bareil, three young and well established musicians, are collaborating for the first time to carry out a major recording project. Focused primarily on French music from the first half of the 20th century, this release reveals the subtle blend of sonorities formed by the harp, cello, and violin through the major works by Jacques Ibert and Henriette Renie. The trio also performs a dazzling, encore-worthy Passacaglia for violin and cello by Handel/Halvorsen and a sweet, introspective finale in the form of a transcription of a Schubert lied.

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REVIEWS:

Focused primarily on French music from the first half of the 20th century, this album reveals the subtle blend of sonorities formed by the harp, cello, and violin through the trios of Jacques Ibert and Henriette Renié. The exploration of this period continues with Danse des lutins, an acrobatic work for harp by Renié. Violinist Antoine Bareil and Cellist Stéphane Tétreault then perform the dazzling Passacaglia by Handel/Halvorsen, before harpist Valérie Milot re-joins the trio for a sweet, introspective finale in the form of a Schubert lied arranged for these forces.

– WFMT 98.7FM (Chicago, IL)

The Ibert trio, beautifully crafted, entertaining, light but not superficial, is an equally apt description of the ensemble itself. Written during wartime, it features an ethereal opening Allegro, a quite beautiful Andante and rather unusually, a Scherzo(ando) to finish, which is motoric and virtuosic.

The work for trio by the little-known Henriette Renié is a most pleasant surprise; it's well sustained in its invention, with considerable passion and drama considering the lack of presence of a piano. It is undeniably French, but it has an unexpected Germanic strength to it.

– MusicWeb International

In the course of their career, the Gryphon Trio has firmly established itself as one of the world’s preeminent piano trios, gathering acclaim and impressing international audiences with its highly refined, dynamic and memorable performances. With a repertoire that ranges from traditional to contemporary and from European classicism to modern-day multimedia, the Gryphons are committed to redefining chamber music for the 21st century. The Los Angeles Times wrote “This is a piano trio that plays with strength and unanimity… big, bold, almost orchestral performances.” To celebrate their 25th anniversary, the trio offers one of their career’s best recordings, the mesmerizing album The End of Flowers, which features works by the great composers Rebecca Clarke and Maurice Ravel, written at a time when World War I was on everyone’s mind.

The musicians on this album are some of the best in Canada. Pianist Alain Lefèvre, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, and its conductor Alexander Shelley and composer Walter Boudreau have come together for the world premiere recording of Boudreau’s masterful Concerto de l’asile, a tribute to the playwright and poet Claude Gauvreau (1925-1971). A musical summit that will mark the history of contemporary music! In addition to this concerto, you will hear the classic Shéhérazade, Op. 35 by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov. The orchestra and its conductor unfold an epic tableau from One Thousand and One Nights as they conjure to life the brilliant and cunning Scheherazade who emerges victorious in her resistance against the evil Shahriar. Splendid!

This is not a disc of highlights from the Tchaikovsky opera, but a balletic condensation of the Pushkin story on which the opera is based. The musical adaptation was made by Gabriel Thibaudeau for Les Grandes Ballets Canadiens de Montréal in 2001. In his accompanying notes, M. Thibaudeau states that “to make the material fit for the ballet framework, we had to cut out many sections (the opera lasts over three hours, the ballet 80 minutes) while at the same time retaining musical coherence. And, just like Tchaikovsky, I had to compose new music to maintain the dramatic tension.” Except for the ambiguous last sentence, this is a fairly accurate statement but, in the interest of the opera-oriented reader, I should elaborate further.



The balletic action unfolds in seven sections. Part 1 (18:37), the longest, sets the mood with the Countess’s aria, “Je crains de lui parler de nuit,” a melody Tchaikovsky borrowed from Grétry for period flavor. Motives associated with Gherman’s troubled character then lead to events occurring in the Private Gaming Club, with the music of Tomsky and his comrades entertaining themselves with the mysterious legend of the “Three Cards,” as the scene concludes with the return of the Grétry melody. Without having seen the ballet, the impression is clearly conveyed that the Old Countess is the drama’s principal character.


Part 2 is misleadingly called “A Park in Leningrad” (for reasons known to its creators, the ballet represents the Soviet era of 1938). This is a lyric episode embracing Pauline’s aria and her duet with Lisa, reasonably true to Tchaikovsky’s music, with a discreet accordion part added to the orchestration. The lengthy part 3 (“Soirée au ballet”) combines the opera’s Mozartian pastoral music and the love themes from the Lisa/Gherman scene. The combination may sound incongruous on paper, but it is no doubt effective choreographically, culminating with an exciting “Pas de deux.” Part 4 (“At the Countess’s Home”) is a skillfully condensed free musical elaboration of the turbulent scene involving, again, the Grétry aria, Gherman breaking the solitude of the frightened Countess, her sudden death, and Lisa’s shocked reaction.


Part 5, called “The Funeral,” opens with Gherman in the barracks, with trumpet sounds in the distance. The ghost of the Countess makes her appearance and reveals the secret of the “Three Cards.” Part 6 (“At the Bridge”) nicely condenses Lisa’s desperate third-act aria with the subsequent intense duet with Gherman and Lisa’s suicide. The concluding part 7 takes us back to the Private Gaming Club, with its busy Prokofiev-style gambling atmosphere. We hear expressions of Gherman’s despair, interwoven reflections of the love music, suggestions of the tragic end, as the “Grétry motive” provides a pianissimo underpainting to Gherman’s dying moments.


Lovers of this opera should know that Prince Yeletsky does not appear in this ballet—nor is he present in the Pushkin novel. Accordingly, there is no reference here of the Prince’s gorgeous aria, which, however justified, is a pity. Still, the ballet is put together with great skill and is undeniably pleasing to the eye and ear. The musical presentation is fine, but the recorded sound, with its lack of depth and immediacy, is somewhat colorless.

FANFARE: George Jellinek

The "heavenly length" that Schumann ascribed to Schubert's Great C major Symphony could be applied to numerous other works in the latter's canon, both in temporal and qualitative terms. Schubert's sublime Octet runs more than an hour with all the repeats observed. His piano trios, Opp 99 and 100, aren't quite as expansive, yet they pack enough significant material into their respective four movements to make many symphonies of the period (and beyond) seem ill-nourished.

The Gryphon Trio's new recording of these repertoire staples confirms that Schubert had no reason to second-guess himself when it came to proportion. Both the effusively expressive B flat Trio, D898, Op 99, and hearty E flat Trio, D929,0p 100, unfold with all the inevitability the composer likely hoped to achieve. They contain some of Schubert's most stirring writing, their songful gestures rubbing shoulders with ideas of vigorous inspiration.

The key to success in the trios is lyricism, which the Gryphon musicians acknowledge to flowingly poetic effect. Even when Schubert is at his most playful, these artists maintain a sure sense of singing line, as well as interplay that is as natural as spontaneous conversation.

As played by violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, cellist Roman Borys and pianist Jamie Parker, the radiance, serenity and vitality in these works come across with a keen blend of sweep and nuance. Balances, so difficult to accomplish in this instrumentation, are carefully set, and each player evidently knows his or her primary or secondary place in the evolving narratives.

Schubert lovers who are taken with his monumental piano trios will relish the single movements he composed early and late in his career for the same complement. The Gryphon players invest the invigorating movement in B flat, D28, and tranquil E flat trio movement entitled Notturno, D897, Op posth 148, with the same zest and affection they bring to the well known works.

-- Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone [2/2008]

The early 1870s saw Saint-Saëns driven by a constant desire to surpass himself, which led to several powerful compositions, including the Cello Concerto No. 1. His creative decisions—the expressive treatment of the solo part, the thematic concentration, the concise orchestral developments, the juxtaposition of contrasts, the lack of a traditional orchestral introduction, and the merging of the usual three movements into one—place this concerto in a class of its own.

When German cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen—a colleague of Tchaikovsky’s at the Moscow Conservatory who took part in the premieres of three of the latter’s string quartets—received the Variations on a Rococo Theme in 1877, which he had commissioned from Tchaikovsky, he immediately took it on tour.

Quickly realizing how deeply moving audiences found the third variation, “Andante” (they frequently applauded it), Fitzenhagen decided to rework the score by moving this variation to the end and rewriting certain transitions. Tchaikovsky was unaware of this until the work was published in 1889.

Although outraged, the composer let the publication stand, and Tchaikovsky’s original version would not be heard again before 1941; indeed, most cellists did not start playing the original version until the late 1970s.

Camille Saint-Saëns epitomizes French music of the 19th century. Versatile and prolific, he contributed voluminously to every genre of French musical literature and influenced musical life in France as composer, teacher, pianist, organist, conductor, critic, chronicler, poet, and playwright. Saint- Saëns qualified as the most “complete” musician of his time according to his devoted friend and student Gabriel Fauré. His creative work, of astonishing range, provides a rich source of aesthetic and historical interest, crucial for an understanding of the music and culture of this era. He was so honored and acclaimed both at home and abroad that he became a legend during his lifetime. The concerto provided Saint-Saëns the opportunity to display technical virtuosity as well as to express musical ideas. He explained: “It is virtuosity itself I mean to defend. It is the source of color in music. It gives wings to the artist to help him escape from the prosaic and commonplace.

Andrew Wan is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, and concertmaster. In 2008, he was named concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, making him one of the youngest leaders of a major symphony. His relationship with the OSM began with performances of Elgar’s Violin Concerto, which were hailed as one of the top two musical moments of 2007 by La Presse.

All tracks have been digitally mastered using 24-bit technology.
Includes work(s) for piano by André Mathieu. Ensemble: Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Matthias Bamert. Soloist: Alain Lefevre.

As Rameau wrote in his treatise on harmony, “A good musician should surrender himself to all the characters he wishes to portray, and like a skillful actor, put himself in the speaker’s shoes.” Regardless of the means used to achieve this, the composer uses music and the interplay of harmony to convey feeling. This album on the Analekta label features bass-baritone Philippe Sly and soprano Hélène Guimette accompanied by musicians from Clavecin en concert under the direction of Luc Beauséjour.

Vivid and technically assured performances of major Prokofiev chamber works by a young man to watch out for.

This disc marks the CD debut of the young violinist Benjamin Beilman. Trained in Chicago and at the Curtis Institute, he was winner of the first violin prize at the 2010 Concours musical International de Montreal. Here he performs all three of the Prokofiev sonatas for violin.
 
Prokofiev started his first violin sonata in 1938, just after Stalin’s purges, but did not complete it until 1944. In spite of the long gestation period, the work is immensely powerful, moving from a moderato that can only be described as spectral to an equally serious scherzo and andante, with only some break in the seriousness in the final allegrissimo. Beilman produces a beautiful tone and has complete control over the piece’s technical demands, but misses much of the depth in the first and third movements. One hopes that he will acquire more depth with age.
 
The second sonata began life as a flute sonata, but has become equally well-known in its violin version. It is more light-hearted than its predecessor and mixes simplicity with the expected Prokofiev irony. Beilman is adept at balancing these different elements and turns in a more perceptive and technically impressive performance than he does in the first sonata.
 
The 1947 Sonata for Violin Solo was written as a teaching piece to be played by groups of violin students. Its moderato first movement is reminiscent of the composer’s ballet music of this period and is followed by a set of child-like variations on a sad theme and a concluding mazurka movement. Again, Beilman’s ability to switch between different moods and tempi serves him well, avoiding the monotony that frequently afflicts performances of solo string music.
 
Benjamin Beilman is a performer of great verve and technical accomplishment, but not afraid of playing simply when so required. As he acquires more experience, he will be a talent to watch out for. The pianist Yekwon Sunwoo provides thoughtful and restrained support, especially in the op. 94a. Recording quality is presentable, if not exactly vivid.

-- William Kreindler, MusicWeb International

St. Benoit du Lac is a Benedictine monastery in Southeastern Quebec. It was founded in 1912 by monks from the French abbey of Saint Wandrile, which is part of the Saint Pierre de Solesmes congregation. The monks sing Gregorian chant in the tradition of Solesmes and the monks use their singing, their teaching and their recordings to continue this tradition.
 
Here we have a recording made originally in 1996. Interestingly, though the monastic community dates from 1912 the buildings are more recent. The church was only built a few years before this recording.
 
The title of the disc is Pax and peace seems to be the general theme of the texts. It open with the antiphon In viam pacis and continues with a selection of introits whose theme is peace, ranging from Give peace, o Lord, to the familiar Christmas passage about the Prince of Peace.
 
The disc is structured very roughly around the mass, but with individual elements multiplied up so a group of introits are followed by the Gloria; then three graduals and then three alleluias, Agnus Dei and communion; with finally a selection of hymns and responses. The CD booklet sets out a short but illuminating discussion about how the individual items fit into the theological journey which the monks have constructed. And it is in theological terms rather than purely musical ones that this disc should be seen. The chant here is not sung as a concert, but to evoke an act of worship with the music being purely a vehicle for the theological expression of the text.
 
Rather frustratingly the CD booklet includes little detailed information about when exactly in the church year individual items would be sung. And there are no printed texts, which makes following the theological argument difficult unless one happens to possess a missal or a gradual.
 
And what of the singing? Well, it is certainly characterful. The monks choir does not sound exceptionally large and the solo voices are distinctive and individually expressive. This is a sincere reflection of the music of a community, rather than new age background music.
 
You will find this music better sung elsewhere, but what this disc does convey is a reflection of a community who sing this music every day. 

-- Robert Hugill, MusicWeb International